Using a Quick Sort Protocol to Understand Student Thinking

Just this past school year, I attended a meeting with my department administrator, reviewing teacher observation data. The numbers didn’t lie—but they didn’t tell the full story. Despite our best intentions, we weren’t seeing the growth we wanted. I realized we were missing something critical: a closer look at what students were thinking.

As a middle school math teacher and department chair at a Title I school, I serve a student body that is diverse, brilliant, and often underestimated. Our learners bring rich cultural and linguistic assets into the classroom, but too often, standardized data masks that reality. I wanted to do something different, something that would give me deeper insights into what my students were thinking. That’s why I began using an equity-based Quick Sort Protocol in my practice.

WHAT IS A QUICK SORT?

A Quick Sort Protocol is a collaborative or individual strategy used to analyze student work, not by assigning scores, but by categorizing it qualitatively. The process involves reviewing open-ended responses from informal tasks (like exit tickets, visual models, or journaling) and placing them into one of four groups:

• Emerging: The student is beginning to engage with the concept but has significant misconceptions.
• Developing: The student demonstrates partial understanding or uses an unconventional strategy.
• On-Track: The student shows grade-level reasoning and accuracy.
• Advanced: The student exceeds expectations, offering a novel or more efficient solution.

Quick Sorts allow teachers to look at students’ thinking processes, not just the final answer a student comes to. That may sound subtle, but for educators, it’s a shift with real impact.

QUICK SORT PROTOCOLS FOR DEEPER STUDENT INSIGHTS

The Quick Sort Protocol helps me slow down and see my students as individuals. Instead of relying only on test scores, I’m studying the way they organize their ideas, represent problems, or use academic language to express reasoning. That gives me a more accurate understanding of what they know and how they process math.

For diverse learners—especially English language learners (ELLs), this approach is essential. Traditional assessments often penalize students for vocabulary gaps or for using informal language, even when their mathematical thinking is strong. I’ve watched students disengage after being labeled “low” based on tools that don’t account for their developing language skills.

Quick Sorts interrupt that cycle. They allow me to look past the surface and see the thinking underneath. Sometimes that looks like a student using everyday language to explain a ratio, or sketching a diagram that clearly shows their process—even if the math terms aren’t all there yet. The Quick Sort Protocol helps bring that brilliance to light, giving multilingual students the space to be recognized as capable, creative, and mathematically powerful.

THE QUICK SORT PROTOCOL IN ACTION

Here’s how I broke down my Quick Sort after a lesson on proportional reasoning: Students in the Emerging category attempted the task but showed major misconceptions—some misused labels or omitted units entirely. Developing students had the right idea and showed relationships through drawings or partially correct explanations, but they didn’t connect their models to the question. On-Track students used accurate visuals and included some explanation using appropriate math terms. Advanced students not only solved the task using multiple representations, but also justified their thinking clearly and used precise vocabulary throughout.

After sorting the student work, I used reflection questions to help me make observations:

• What strengths are students demonstrating that might not show up in a grade book? “Several students in the Developing group built accurate bar models but didn’t complete the equation.”
• Who is missing from the On-Track category, and why? “Most of the students in Emerging are multilingual learners—they’re using diagrams but aren’t confident labeling or explaining their strategy.”
• What do students in each category need next? “Emerging students need support connecting visuals to language. Developing students need structured peer discussion to rehearse vocabulary before writing.”

What stood out most was how many students had the thinking, but not the language. Instead of reteaching the full lesson, I created an interactive word wall with visuals and bilingual vocabulary to support the ELL students in the room. I also allowed students to annotate their visuals orally or with sentence starters in their home language before translating their thinking into academic English.

Encouraging this kind of strategic code-switching helps students feel confident while building their academic vocabulary in context. That small instructional shift increased participation, deepened understanding, and—most important—affirmed that their home language was a strength, not a barrier.

USING THE INFORMATION FROM A QUICK SORT

The Quick Sort Protocol is only powerful when it informs what happens next. After each sort, I spend 15 to 20 minutes analyzing patterns using reflection prompts.

From there, I determine the next steps:

• Tier the next lesson based on where students fall. For example, students in the Emerging group might receive additional modeling and guidance practice, while On-Track students tackle the same concept with more independence.
• Reconfigure small groups to create intentional peer partnerships. I often pair students in the Developing category with those who are On-Track or Advanced.
• Create anchor charts from actual student work. Instead of modeling the “perfect” answer from a teacher edition, I pull samples from Developing or On-Track students and annotate them with the class, making the process visible and accessible.
• Reteach with targeted scaffolds like sentence stems, visual cues, or tiered vocabulary supports.

One Quick Sort in particular focused on a geometry task involving angles and shape classification. Several students landed in the Developing category—they used the right visual cues but couldn’t name the properties accurately. I regrouped the class into skill-based clusters. One group practiced vocabulary with visuals and sentence starters; another used math talk cards to explain angle relationships verbally before writing them. A third group explored an extension task that challenged them to apply their understanding in a new context.

Try It in Your Classroom

If you’re new to the Quick Sort Protocol, here’s how to get started: Choose an open-ended task that allows multiple solution paths or representations. I recommend one with rigor, particularly a Type II/Type III. After students complete the assigned task, gather their responses and sort student work into four categories (Emerging, Developing, On-Track, Advanced), based on visible reasoning and conceptual clues, not correctness alone. Then, use reflection prompts to make meaning from what you see. Finally, make instructional decisions for your next lesson based on your observations.

For me, the Quick Sort isn’t just a protocol, it’s a mindset. It reminds me to teach more responsively, plan with greater precision, and lead with equity in every decision.